I was in my first recording studio about 20 years ago, playing bass for the Telltales, in Cincinnati, OH. Since then I've gotten to do sessions with friends, sessions with enemies, sessions with some of my favorite artists, and sessions with people that became some of my favorite artists. These are just a few of the many things I think about recording, and a few things I wish folks had told me before my own sessions.  Take em or leave em. This is by no means a comprehensive guide to anything.

A short guide to getting the most from your session

The shortest guide imaginable is one word - Preparation. Nothing brings a session down faster than an under-rehearsed musician or group. Know the tune, know the parts, know the arrangement, maybe even know it at different tempos or different keys. You can work for 12 hours and get one song done, or get five songs done in the same amount of time.

Setups and 'finding sounds' are the longest part of the process. Tracking time depends on the length of the material and how quickly solid takes make it to the recorder. The time spent overdubbing depends on the material and how to best construct the recording you want to make - if you're thinking Raw Power, that's about zero hours of overdubs and if you're thinking Soft Bulletin, that's more than a couple months. The time spent mixing is a result of the communication between the band and the engineer, and how well everyone involved understands what the end result should be.

Band: We can fix it in the mix!
Me: Ummm. No.

While performances can be nudged here and there to help the overall tightness of a track, it can be difficult to make realistic-sounding edits on material that isn't recorded to a click (which should be rehearsed before the session). Editing time adds up quick, and usually ends up costing more than getting definitive performances from the get go.

A Few Technical Matters

Prize Beagle works exclusively in Pro Tools (insert old dog new DAW joke here). If you are bringing in tracks that you've worked on at home, we'll talk prior to the session about the what you should bring in and the formats I like to use.  If you're working on a computer-based system, we'll talk file formats and how to export usable data from your software.   If you're working on a digital recorder (besides the Tascam DA-38/88 series) or four track cassette, I'll ask you to bring in your machines for the transfers.  If you're working with analog formats besides cassette or 1" 8-Track, can discuss an alternate facility for the transfer.  Working with home recordists is a specialty of Prize Beagle.  Some of the most exciting recordings I have made started with a 4-track cassette tape.

In general, you should expect to spend a bit more time when working with the Beagle's tape machine.  It requires an extra step to transfer the recording off tape and into Pro Tools (if editing is required - we can mix right from tape as well). The trade off for the time spent is, of course, the sound of tape on your recording.  If time (and money) are of the essence, recording directly to Pro Tools is a 100% sonically-viable option.  Don't get too caught up in the romance of analog tape.  It sounds good, but it does not impart instant greatness to anything.

On Loudness

There has been a bit of an arms race over the last 10 or 12 years in recording to produce the loudest records possible. While digital technology allows recordings to be made at higher volume levels, this practice can actually limit the overall transient range of a recording and effectively decrease the perceived volume that the listener experiences. Chicago Mastering Service has an excellent article that details what these loudness wars have done to recordings and why, in a lot of ways, less can be more.  Highly recommended reading.

Mastering Your Recording

Mastering is the last step in the recodring process, and can be thought of as a final 'sweetening' stage of the process.  EQs are evend out, stereo phase consistency is checked, volume levels between songs are finalized, and the album is sequenced and prepared for duplication.  The mastering preocess also gets the recording in front of another objective listener (I personally think the extra ears are worth the price of admission alone). While Prize Beagle Recording is not a mastering facility, I can offer referrals to several mastering houses in the Chicago area.

Food, Booze, Guests, Etc.

A few wandering observations... Long dinner breaks and heavy food ("Let's order a pizza!") kill the momentum of a session. Greasy hands and full bellies are tough conditions to perform under. Eat light throughout the session and keep on track. Booze, and all that? Prize Beagle's policy is moderation - everyone has their own comfort zone, and getting outside of it just because you're in the studio is a bad idea. Guests require even more moderation - perhaps even judicious discretion. Inviting Girlfriends or Boyfriends or Spouses or Drinking Buddies or Drug Dealers to the session to hang can prevent work from getting done. Adding last minute 'cameo' spots for unrehearsed players or {gulp} non-musicians can be disastrous. In rare circumstances, it's an interesting experiment, but in most cases you should proceed into this realm with extreme caution.